Meet Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, second female CJN
Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun
Meet Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, second female CJN
Abdullateef Fowewe
Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun has become the second female Chief Justice of Nigeria after Justice Mariam Aloma Mukhtar.
President Bola Tinubu swore in Kekere-Ekun as the 23rd Chief Justice of Nigeria on Friday, at the State House Council Chambers, pending her confirmation by the Senate, as reported earlier by Dailyeconomy.
Mukhtar is the first female CJN, she was sworn in as the 13th Indigenous CJN, by former President Goodluck Jonathan on July 16, 2012, and conferred on her the Nigerian National Honour of the Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger.
However, the appointment of Kekere-Ekun as the second female CJN marks a substantial transition in the judiciary as she grabs on the duties of leading the Supreme Court and maintaining the rule of law in Nigeria.
Kekere-Ekun was born on May 7, 1958, she obtained her LL.B from the University of Lagos in 1980 and an LL.M from the London School of Economics and Political Science in 1983; she was called to the Nigerian Bar in July 1981 and had a stint in private practice between 1985 to 1989 before being appointed a Senior Magistrate Grade II in the Lagos State Judiciary in December 1989.
She became a Judge of the High Court of Lagos State on July 19, 1996 and served as Chairman Robbery and Firearms Tribunal, Zone II, Ikeja, Lagos from November 1996 to May 1999.
Justice Kekere-Ekun was promoted to the Court of Appeal in September 2004 and served in various divisions before her appointment to the Supreme Court in July 2013 as the fifth female justice of the apex court.
Nevertheless, the 66-year-old jurist is expected to serve as CJN until May 2028 when she will attain the obligatory retirement age of 70.
As the second female CJN, Kekere-Ekun will automatically become the Chairman of the National Judicial Council, which oversees the appointment, promotion, and discipline of judicial officers in Nigeria.
